There Is A Light (Bechloe High School Au)
by cinnamonsweat
Summary: What if Beca and Chloe had met in highschool and were best friends ever since their first day? What if Beca started to question everything when she accidentally kind of maybe falls in love with her best friend?
1. Chapter 1

Now, you wouldn't usually find Beca Mitchell riding through the suburbs at 12:40am on an old bike that she'd had since she was 12, but she has a very good excuse. Usually by now she would be in bed, probably asleep, or listening to music, maybe on tumblr. Most nights actually she usually does both until she falls asleep, but there is only one exception to this routine of hers, and that would be Chloe Beale.

That's Beca's friend. Well, best friend. Actually, she's probably the best person Beca had come to know in this world. Have you ever seen an excited puppy jumping all over a grumpy cat who pretends to hate it because if it gave any other reaction it would send the puppy into overdrive? That's their friendship. Beca's the cat.

They'd met in the first year of high school, the teacher had paired them in one of those first day bonding activities. They made craft things and played games to get to know each other, and Chloe for some weird reason, Beca thought, found her entertaining. She insisted on spending the whole day with Beca after that, Chloe shared her lunch with her when she saw how boring Beca's sandwich was, and she insisted at the end of the day that Beca had come over to her house. Beca was never really one to make friends, let alone that quickly, but Chloe was so set on showing her the house that afternoon that the short brunette couldn't say no. Beca didn't really mind, she thought it was nice to have someone that persistent in her life.

So they'd walked to her house, her excitedly leading the way, occasionally skipping ahead, until they took a detour, because Chloe's eyes had lit up and it was clear she had something planned.

'How much change do you have?' She'd asked Beca suddenly, so she pulled all of the coins out of her pockets.

Turns out combined, they both had enough for a large raspberry flavoured slushy that they shared, passing back and forth while sat on some swings near her house. Chloe told Beca about how nervous she'd been for her first day of high school, and that she shouldn't have been because it was 'so much fun!' And though Beca didn't admit it, she had fun too, it was fun becoming Chloe Beale's friend that day, even at her house when she was blasting some pop song in her room, trying to get me to dance with her. Actually, that's pretty much all she does now as well. The pop songs might've changed but she hadn't.

Now they were in their final year of high school, and the two of them were inseparable, which was why Beca happened to be on her old bike in the middle of the night. You see, Chloe had texted her about 5 minutes ago. All the message said was:

Emergency! Come over, NOW.

So of course, Beca was on the way. She's the only person Beca would get out of bed for at this hour, especially knowing it was an emergency. Her mind was spinning with possible meanings of emergency, because Beca thought; if it was an actual like, physical emergency, surely the redhead would know to call 911 first and not just text her? It was probably something to do with her parents, who were always fighting with each other, or getting mad at Chloe. Beca is quite protective of Chloe when they get like that, because she doesn't really stand up for herself against them, which Beca hates to see. She thought Chloe deserved better than the way they treated her sometimes. In fairness, they did want the best for Chloe, but a lot of the time that meant their idea of what was best, and not what Chloe wanted at all. Sometimes, it all seemed like fake concern for her, as though she was just a chess piece in their constant battles that would surely lead to divorce one day. But Chloe looked past this, because she still loved her parents, and they still tried to help, sometimes.

Luckily Chloe only lived a few streets away, so Beca was leaving her bike on the neighbours lawn in no time. She did this because she knew the neighbours wouldn't notice nor care, and if she put it on Chloe's front lawn the motion sensor light would have turned on instantly. Beca was assuming this was a kind of emergency that required her to go unnoticed by the parents. She had a routine for this too.

All she had to do was climb over the fence down the side of the house a little, far enough that the sensor wouldn't pick her up, then go to the backyard, where the tree was. They built this half-assed tree house when they were 14, specifically for this sneaking in purpose. Beca calls it half-assed because it only featured a questionable ladder and a poor excuse for a landing. But it was enough for her to be able to sit comfortably and knock on Chloe's window without falling out, and what else does a tree house need to do for you really?

Her shadow was at the curtains immediately, and she pulled them back, face beaming as she slid the window up. Beca awkwardly climbed in, all those times she'd done this, you'd think it'd be effortless for her now but she still comes close to falling every time.

'I see no emergencies…' Beca said as she closed the window.

'Oh, right, I just said that cause I knew if I told you what it actually was you probably wouldn't come over.'

'Chloeee!' She whined because she knew she wouldn't like what ever was coming next.

'I'm sorry! It's still an emergency, I have an English presentation due tomorrow-'

'Ugh.'

'-and I need you to help me do it.'

'Ugghhh.'

'I'm sorry.' She totally wasn't though, because it was quite obvious she was trying not to laugh.

'You had all afternoon to do it though!' Beca jumped onto her bed and kicked her shoes off, and Chloe sat down next to her.

'Actually, I was shopping all afternoon with my mum, so I didn't have time. But… guess what?'

'What?'

'We found a decent car, it's kinda old but it's owned by this grandma who barely used it… anyways, I get it tomorrow!' Chloe could barely contain her excitement. She'd had her licence for a while but she'd struggled to save up for one, or rather convince her parents to let her by a cheap one that wasn't classy enough for them.

'Dude that's great! You have to come pick me up as soon as you get it, okay?'

'Obvs, where else would I go? Okay but seriously, this presentation.'

'Right, what's it on?'

'To Kill A Mockingbird.'

'Oh, I haven't read that.'

'Neither.'

'Chloe!' Chloe just giggled at Beca.

'Idiot.' Beca replied.

So they watched the movie instead. Beca was pretty bored but she put up with it, cause Chloe really needed to get this done. She was constantly taking notes and pausing and rewinding it. Normally when they watched movies she'd get bored and annoy Chloe, but she always managed to ignore her til the end, if it was a movie she liked anyways, sometimes Beca won if Chloe was bored too, or just couldn't be bothered ignoring Beca. Only on rare occasions.

Afterwards they worked on her powerpoint and tried to organise her notes. They bullshitted a lot of it, just googling peoples interpretations and trying to word it in their own way. After an hour or so they came up with something kind of decent, and Chloe practised by presenting to Beca, telling her about all the symbols and metaphors she'd noticed and stuff. She was pretty good, Beca thought, if it wasn't for witnessing her frantic sparknotes researches she would almost believed she hadn't just googled that.

'Not bad.' Beca said when Chloe finished.

'You think that will do?' She looked very stressed as she sat down next to Beca on the bed.

'Dude, definitely. You sound like you actually read the book, and that you genuinely pondered on the meaning of the title for days, not just a few minutes. I feel like I've read the book now. I feel like I can see life in a new way n-' Chloe threw a pillow in Beca's face.

'Alright, shut up I get it, I'll get a solid C. You wanna sleep over?'

Beca considered her options for a moment. Either she climb (and half fall) back down the tree, attempt to sneak back into her home at the very high chance of being caught by her mother or father. Or she could text them and say she was sleeping at Chloe's, at the risk of waking them up and making them mad and which would probably lead to them making Beca come home anyways, or she could just sleep here and deal with the consequences later. Sleeping in Chloe's bed seemed like the best option by far to Beca, because it meant not having to worry about those other things for a while.

'Yeah, sounds good.'

Chloe smiled triumphantly, closing her laptop. They cleared everything off the bed and climbed under the covers of her queen sized bed, because the night was progressively getting cooler, even though autumn was coming to an end now.

Chloe fell asleep with her head on shorter girls shoulder, which made Beca so comfortable that she began to question whether it was weird to enjoy sleeping in the same bed as your friend as much as she did. But that's what friends are for, right? She'd never had many friends but she was sure that's what all close friendships were like. Either way, that's what a close friendship with Chloe was like, and she was totally okay with that.

Beca fell asleep with the thought that her world would be nowhere near as bright without Chloe Beale in it.


	2. Chapter 2

The faintest whisper pierced through Beca's dreams and the gentlest nudge reminded her where she was.

'Beca?'

Chloe nudged Beca's shoulder with her forehead. Her arms, which were wrapped around Beca, squeezed her slightly.

'Hmm?'

'Beca we have to go to school today, you know.'

'Mhmm'

'So… We should probably get up. Like, now.'

Beca groaned and rolled to her side, burying her head into Chloe's neck.

They lay like that for a minute or two while Chloe thought of different ways to convince Beca into getting up. She new she should probably just roll away, move her arms or something, but she was too comfortable with Beca leaning into her side like that, so she tried to think of a different way.

'I'll make you coffee?'

That certainly got Beca up.

Beca was in a somewhat zombie-like state as Chloe made her toast and coffee, while somehow Chloe was as bright and bubbly as ever. She was always the morning person of the two of them. Beca is absolutely not a morning person. It takes Chloe seconds to wake up, where it takes Beca a good half hour at least. So it's a struggle for them to get to school on time, to say the least. It's a struggle for both because half the things that Beca should be doing Chloe has already done for her. It's a mystery how Beca manages to function without her every other morning.

She only starts to properly feel conscious as they begin the walk to school. Usually Beca will leave first from her house and they'll text and meet up along the way. The only days they don't do this are the ones where Beca actually sleeps in too long, or when it's raining, in which case, Beca's mum usually drives the both of them. Chloe's parents are usually already on their way to work before she even wakes up, so if Beca's parents can't take them then they're left to share a large umbrella, which is a complicated task at times.

'I won't be walking home today, by the way. Sorry.' Chloe said.

'Oh, how come?'

'Mum's going to pick me up, and we're going to go get my car.'

'Okay I guess that's a decent excuse. I'll see you after that though, right?'

'Yeah of course, I'll come straight over.'

'Good. You better, otherwise... I'll never speak to you again.' Beca teased, failing to come up with a decent threat.

'Oh please, you couldn't if you tried.'

Beca wasn't looking forward to her first class. She had maths, while Chloe had English, so that meant one entire hour of boredom for Beca. She had no interest in algebra, so most lessons she would just go on her phone or draw random things in her book. She didn't really know anyone in that class, and had never really made any effort to get to know them, so making time pass was just as hard as the equations they were being given.

She was worried for Chloe and her presentation, because she knew Chloe got pretty nervous about these things. She'd texted Beca about 5 minutes ago saying that it was her turn to present, and Beca had been impatiently checking her phone every few seconds since, which the teacher unfortunately had noticed.

'Beca?'

'Hmm?' She looked up to see the teachers arms crossed and his eyes on sternly on her, as well as at least half the class.

'Is there something interesting in your lap there or do you have a phone for me to confiscate?'

'Mr Shankly, why are you staring at my lap?' She replied dryly.

That earned a snicker or two from her class mates.

'That's not-' He cleared his throat. 'Put it away, Mitchell.'

'I hope I don't have to say the same to you, sir.' More giggles from the class were heard as his face went bright red.

'That's one warning Beca! I suggest you put your phone away and stop talking back before I give you detention!.'

Beca rolled her eyes but kept quiet. She wasn't looking for trouble really, she was just bored. Now it was even harder for her to sit through class because she couldn't check her phone at the risk of getting detention, and she knew that Chloe would definitely be texting her by now.

Luckily they both had science together next, and Chloe practically ran to their spot at the back of the room and as she sat down next to her, Beca began talking immediately.

'I'm sorry, I got in trouble for being on my phone again, but it doesn't matter, anyways- How'd it go!?' The words came out of Beca's mouth all at once.

'Okay I think... I don't know I guess. I was so nervous though!'

'I bet you did fine.' Beca reassured her.

"Look, my hands are still shaking!' She showed Beca, and she was right, they were trembling, so Beca impulsively grabbed them and held them tightly.

'There.' She laughed. 'You're fine now. It's over.'

It wasn't much, but Beca thought it cheered her up a little bit. She would've spent the whole lesson trying to take Chloe's mind off the presentation, but they got split up and put into pairs. Chloe was with some kid named Donald, and Beca was with Jesse, someone she'd known since grade one. They weren't the closest of friends, they didn't really hang out too often, but they always helped each other out when needed. He also occasionally gives Beca free popcorn when she goes to the movie theatre he works at.

Beca always thought the best moment of their friendship had been when he helped her out with a certain favour back in grade seven. It had all started when Chloe had dragged Beca to the bathroom in tears and told her about how some guy had stopped her in the hallway and asked her on a date, and when she said yes, he and his jerk friends a few meters away burst into laughter, humiliating her. Chloe wouldn't calm down for ages, and Beca got so mad that someone would hurt her for their own entertainment, so she stormed off, telling Chloe she'd be back.

She found Jesse, told him everything, and they'd quickly devised a plan. Beca went back to Chloe and convinced her to skip the next class, because there was no way Beca wanted her to be in class like that, alone. They went to the football field, leaning against a tree at the edge of the field. Chloe hugged Beca tightly and they'd talked about random things and eventually the tears had stopped, but Beca knew she was still sad about it. She made sure that Chloe didn't pay attention to the PE class at the opposite end of the field, because the four idiots that were a part of the mindless prank were in that class. But so was Jesse.

She waited til the class went inside towards the end of the period before taking Chloes hand and pulling her up to stand. She walked her over to the bleachers and Chloe pretended the seats were balancing beams as they slowly made their way towards the gym. Jesse texted Beca:

 _Mission successful!_

So they sat down and Beca told Chloe to watch the gym door. She kept asking why, but all Beca would reply with was 'watch the door!'. You see, Jesse had waited for the four guys to get into the showers, and once they were, he stole their clothes, towels, gym bags and anything else, then locked all the doors except the one that lead to the football field, where conveniently, half the school had started walking past, as it was the end of the day, and most people had to go past the gym to head home.

So when they burst out the door and four skinny white guys bolted across the field using baseball gloves and footballs to cover their junk, well Chloe had laughed so hard that she was in tears again, though this was a much better kind of crying, aside from the fact that she could barely breathe. Beca loved nothing more than being able to make Chloe laugh like that, it is a feeling that she'll never be tired of.

Sometimes there are certain defining moments in friendships when you realise that the two of you really have something different, and you feel like it's the two of you against the world, and you just know that this person isn't just passing through, you know their going to stick around for as long as they can. For Beca it was never really one moment, but something that grew from that first day, and everyday after, when Chloe _chose_ to spend time with Beca, every time she genuinely seemed to enjoy hanging out with Beca, everyday she made sure Beca didn't feel lonely. Every one of those days had been that moment of realisation.

But for Chloe, Beca was pretty sure it had been that moment during her uncontrollable laughter, when she realised Beca was the reason that those four douches were attempting to hide their pale asses from the world. That was the moment she knew Beca was her best, closest friend, and that she was Beca's.

Beca arrived home exhausted that afternoon, hoping to just crash on the couch and do nothing but waste time on the internet and watch TV. Her dad's car wasn't in the garage when she put her bike back inside, which was strange, because he would usually be home by now, but she didn't think much of it. As soon as she closed the door, her mother walked out of the living room, arms crossed. Beca hadn't even taken one step inside the house and her mother was already mad at something.

'And where the hell were you last night?'

 _Oh shit_ Beca thought. She'd forgotten that she didn't tell her about last night.

'I stayed at Chloe's, I didn't think you would mind.' Beca said casually, hoping this conversation would end quickly.

'So you think you can just do as you please without asking me or letting me know?'

She seemed more stressed than usual, and when she was like this Beca usually looked to her dad to reason with her mother. He was the peace-keeper of the family 90% of the time.

'I'm sorry I didn't think it'd be such a big deal, I always stay at her place.' She shrugged. 'Besides, you and dad were already in bed, I didn't want to wake you. Where is dad, anyways?'

She tensed up at the mention of him.

'What?' Beca asked, wondering why she was acting so weird.

'He left.'

'What?' I repeated.

'He left, this morning. He wants a divorce.' She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. 'Should have taken you too, so I wouldn't be stuck with your ungrateful ass.'

'Excuse me?' Beca couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sure, they fight a lot, and the divorce wasn't a huge shock, but there's no way her dad would just leave like that. That's not like him. He couldn't just leave without saying goodbye.

'Got an unloyal husband...' she mumbled 'and a daughter who'd choose some redheaded twat over her own mother.'

Beca was trying not to cry at that point, though her efforts to stop the wave of tears was pointless, as they soon began to fall down her face. It felt like her whole world had been shattered into a million pieces. Her chest tightened and breathing became harder and herder to do. She'd never felt so hurt by her own mother. She felt so betrayed by every word that came out of her mouth. She was about to argue with her, she was ready to yell, but her phone vibrated, momentarily distracting her. It was a text from Chloe:

 _I'm out the front :)_

Beca looked back up, desperately hoping the reveal of some twisted prank, and everything would be okay again, but her mother just stared at her, arms crossed.

Beca turned around, whipped the door open and all but ran outside, not even bothering to turn around and close the door. The only thought in her mind that made sense to her was that she had to get to Chloe. Maybe then everything would feel okay.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far! Love hearing from you guys :) also sorry I took so long this time**

Summary: Beca tries to make sense of her life, but the only thing that seems to actually make sense is Chloe. McDonalds and car shenanigans ensue. Enjoy!

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Beca half ran to the car, driven by panic and an intense need to get the hell out of there, so when she reached Chloe's car she tore the door open and slammed it shut as soon as she sat down.

'Hey that's no way to treat my ne- Beca! What's wrong?' Chloe's playful grin changed to utmost concern instantly at the sight of Beca's watery eyes.

There was no point in hiding her tears from Chloe, she didn't even try, Beca knew she had no control over them any more.

'In a second.' Beca shook her head in response to Chloe's question. 'Can we just go somewhere, please?'

Chloe, still very confused and concerned for her best friend, turned the car on. 'Where?' She asked.

'I don't know, anywhere. I don't care, I just don't wanna be here.' Beca looked back towards the house, afraid her mother might come out and yell at her more.

Chloe took off without another question, determined to help Beca in whatever way she could. Beca had never been in the car with Chloe driving before, but she thought that Chloe was really good. She felt safe with her at the wheel as her home grew smaller and smaller in the wing mirror. Only, it didn't quite seem like home any more to Beca. Everything that had once made it feel like home to her was now missing or changed for the worse, she felt as though someone had just come into her life and tore everything up, ruining everything she knew. Now the house in the distance was nothing more than a house to her, as meaningless as any other house in that street. The only thing that made her feel safe, comfortable, the only thing that seemed normal in this nightmarish moment she was living in was the redhead at the wheel. She only needed to look at Chloe, watch her drive in concentration, eye-brows pulled together in a way that she found kind of cute, and breathing already became easier for her.

Neither of them spoke as Chloe drove, and Beca was really grateful because she knew it was probably killing Chloe not to ask again, but she appreciated that Chloe knew when to give her space. It was quiet for quite a while, which drew Beca's attention to the lack of music. She realised that there was no radio, just a gaping box where it would usually be, and beneath it seemed to be an ill-fitting, mismatching cassette player. Beca was about to ask about it, but Chloe beat her to breaking the silence with one single word.

'Nuggets?'

'Um, what?'

'I feel like McDonalds. Do you want nuggets?' Chloe slightly elaborated, not taking her eyes off the road.

'Sure.' Her own voice surprised her, sounding a lot quieter, in a way, almost smaller than it usually did.

Chloe pulled up to the drive thru, but to her dismay it was closed for renovation. She decided to go inside, leaving Beca in the parking lot, after checking that she didn't want to come in of course.

While Beca waited, she tried calling her dad, but he wouldn't pick up. She left a message the second time, she tried to control her shaky voice as she asked him what was going on. She really just wanted to hear his voice saying that everything was fine and that he'd be coming home soon. But part of her knew that wasn't true. She ignored that part however, because she simply wasn't ready to believe her dad had just left her.

Chloe returned with a large bag containing a 20 pack of nuggets, large fries, and she also had two thickshakes, Beca's favourite.

They drove along a winding road that seemed to lead them up a hill, and Beca trusted that Chloe knew where she was going. She started to feel more like talking as she ate the fries.

'So um, what's up with your sound system Beale?'

'Oh,' she laughed 'Yeah, the old lady who owned it never bothered to fix hers when it broke, so apparently she just got her son to put that cassette player in there from his car, and it totally works too, but I don't have any cassettes. All she had was Frank Sinatra, which isn't quite my thing, you know.'

'Wait, he isn't? Now I have to rethink my Christmas present for you.' Beca joked.

'Anyways, it kind of sucks because I don't know anywhere that sells cassettes, let alone cassettes with stuff that I like on them. So I guess I'll just have to sing 1989 to you from now on.'

Beca rolled her eyes and groaned, but truthfully she loved when Chloe sung, it was one of her favourite things to listen to, but she could never admit that.

They pulled into a small dirt parking space at the top of the hill that was overlooking the city below them. The sun was setting by now, and the city started to light up, welcoming the night, and painting a beautiful picture before the two girls.

'My parents brought me up here once or twice,' Chloe explained 'Was always one of my favourite places.'

They sat on the hood of the car with the McDonalds bag in-between them, watching as the sky slowly changed colours.

'So, do you want to talk about it?' Chloe finally asked.

Beca sighed and began to recount her afternoon. She didn't exactly say that her dad had left her, only saying that it was what her mother told her, as though there might be some reasonable explanation from her father that would make it all better. She also left out the specifics of what had been said, partially because she wanted to spare Chloe the pain, but also because she just didn't want to have to say it all. She simply emphasized that they weren't pleasant words.

'I'm so sorry,' Chloe said, her voice laced with concern as she squeezed Beca's hand. 'That... sucks.' She seemed to be unable to find the right words.

Beca nodded, eating another nugget. She wasn't really sure what to say.

'So you haven't heard from your dad?'

Beca shook her head no.

'Oh. Well I'm sure he'll call or something soon.'

They were silent for a while as they finished the rest of their food. Once Chloe was done, she scooted back so that she was leaning on her windscreen, looking up at the sky, arms behind her head in a relaxed position. She kept nudging Beca with her leg until the brunette joined her.

'What do you think you'll do next year?' Chloe asked.

'What, like college and stuff?' Beca asked, moving a bit closer to Chloe.

'Yeah, do you know where you want to go?'

'Haven't got a clue. Don't even know what I want to do really.' Beca sighed. 'You?'

'I don't know, my parents probably want me to go somewhere expensive and fancy or somewhere that I doubt I'll get into.' She paused for a moment. 'I hope wherever we go, we get to go to the same college.'

A warm feeling grew in her chest that Beca couldn't quite explain. She'd wanted to say the same thing but she was scared that it would seem selfish, trying to keep Chloe to herself. Hearing her say that made her feel relieved in a way, because she could not stand the thought of losing someone else.

'I can't imagine college without you. It'd suck.' She told Chloe, hoping she'd understand that she truly couldn't stand the thought of having no Chloe in her life.

'Lets make a deal now. No matter what, we have to go to the same place. Okay?'

'No matter what.' Beca confirmed.

'Swear it!' Chloe threatened, sticking out her pinky finger. Beca giggled and looped it with her own.

'I swear, no matter what, I will go to the same lame-ass college as you.'

Chloe grinned at her, and put one arm behind Beca's head. 'Good. You can't break a pinky promise.'

Beca rested her head on her shoulder, unable to get rid of the smile on her face. 'I don't think Harvard takes 12 year olds, you know.'

Chloe laughed and gave Beca a shove. They laid there like that for quite a while, the sky was well and truly dark now, with stars shining above them. It was a nice clear night, with no clouds to block their view. Beca was so grateful for Chloe, and for that moment, she felt like Chloe was the only thing holding her together. She just felt a surge of gratitude towards her best friend, only it was different than anything she'd felt before. She considered telling Chloe about this feeling, but she wasn't entirely sure what it was, and wouldn't have a clue how to begin explaining the way it made her feel warm, despite the cool breeze that had come with the setting sun. So when Chloe asked her about constellations, she didn't say anything, and in a way, keeping that feeling to herself felt kind of nice. Like some sort of happy secret.

'Come on, you must know one constellation.' Chloe said.

'Alright fine. You see there?' Beca pointed up to the sky, drawing imaginary lines, connecting the stars.

'What is it?' Chloe asked, unsuspecting.

'A dick.'

Beca barely finished talking before she cracked up. Chloe sat up, frowning as she ignored Beca's laughter. 'That's it, you've ruined the moment, we're going home.'

'We were having a moment?' Beca asked, genuinely confused by what kind of 'moment' Chloe meant.

'You can stay at my place by the way,' Chloe said, opening her car door 'I'm guessing you probably don't want to go back to your mothers?'

Beca shook her head and slid off the hood of the car, quickly walking back to her door. As they drove home, it turned out Chloe wasn't joking about 1989; Beca realised she was humming Wildest Dreams as she took them back down the windy road. Beca smiled to herself, feeling that weird rush of gratitude again, as she realised she was so thankful that this weird, excitable redhead was in her life.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading and favouriting! Hope you like where it's going :) Thanks for the reviews too, love hearing from you. Let me know, do you like the chapter lengths, or should they be longer?**

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Chloe getting her car was probably one of Beca's favourite occurrences ever, it was just a pity that it had happened on the same day as one of her least favourite occurances. They'd had similar nights since the first drive, just going out to different places, sitting and talking, eating some form of junk food. Beca loved those kind of nights.

It had been a week since that first day, and Beca had stayed at Chloe's every night, afraid to go back to the old house. Chloe's parents had been fine with her staying there, after some convincing on Chloe's part, only she had to stay in their guest room 'so as to not be a distraction for Chloe.' Little did they know Chloe snuck into Beca's room almost every night any ways. Chloe said it was because she slept better with her there, but Beca had a suspicion that Chloe didn't want her to feel lonely. If that were the case, it was definitely working. Beca would not have been able to hold herself together if it wasn't for Chloe.

The weird warm feeling from before kept coming back too, she felt it every time Chloe wrapped her arms around her in the middle of the night. Every time Chloe made her laugh, it was there, slightly bigger each time. She found herself staring at Chloe sometimes, trying to figure out what it was. Sometimes Chloe would notice, and Beca got so close to telling her, but she was almost afraid that telling her might make the feeling go away, and she didn't want that. It's not that she'd never felt this before, she always appreciated Chloe, but it seemed to be getting bigger lately, she couldn't quite explain it. She was sure that all friends felt like this though, it was probably a very normal thing for close friends to feel. That's what she kept telling herself in an attempt to build up the courage to say something.

She was thinking about it again as they sat on her car in the parking lot for a frozen yoghurt store, facing one of the busier streets in town. There was a building which loud music and laughter could be heard, but Beca wasn't really paying attention to it when Chloe had interrupted her thoughts.

'What do you think that is?' She asked, nodding towards the source of the music.

Beca squinted, trying to read the faded sign above the building. 'I think it's a bar.'

Chloe slid off the hood of her car. 'C'mon.' She said, beckoning for Beca to do the same.

'What are you doing?' Beca asked.

'I just wanna check it out.' Chloe said as though it were the simplest thing in the world. 'Come on!' She repeated, a little more enthusiastic than before, as though it would reassure Beca. If anything it made her more nervous.

Chloe grabbed Beca's hand, practically dragging her towards the bar. Beca knew that once this girl had an idea, she could not be stopped. But that didn't mean Beca wouldn't protest the entire way there.

'Chloe what do you think is going to happen?'

Nothing.

'Chloe, it's not going to work!'

No reply.

'Chloe, we'll get in trouble. I don't think your parents-' 'Shhhh.' Chloe finally broke her silence, because they were approaching the door, guarded by a bouncer. Well, Beca assumed he was a bouncer, judging off what she'd seen in movies and tv shows, although this guy was quite different to them. He wasn't dressed in a suit, he was dressed pretty casually actually, and he wasn't particularly big or menacing. He even smiled as Chloe approached him.

'Evening, ladies.' He nodded as he greeted them, and spoke with slight British accent. 'How are we tonight?'

Chloe, still holding Beca's hand, flashed him her warmest, friendliest smile. 'Oh, we're good, just a bit bored.' She raised her eyebrows suggestively as she said this. 'How are you?'

He smirked, clearly enjoying talking to Chloe. Beca didn't blame him. 'I've had more interesting nights myself. So I guess you'd like to go in?' He nodded toward the door he was standing in front of.

'That'd be nice.' She smiled again, Beca thought the act was almost over the top at this point, but the guy didn't seem to mind.

He folded his arms. 'Well, how old are you?'

'21,' She replied 'It was Beca's birthday last week.' Chloe said, and it took a great deal of self control from Beca to not burst out in laughter. She hoped her face didn't give away how ridiculous she thought this was.

He tilted his head and smirked again. 'C'mon, how old are you _really?_ '

Beca looked to Chloe, panicking. She started wondering if you could go to jail for trying to sneak into a bar, but the man spoke again.

'I mean, you can go in,' he said 'I just wanted to make sure you're not 14 and that I'm corrupting you or something.'

'Oh!' Chloe visably bounced on her heels in excitement, it looked as though she was trying to resist leaping with joy. 'We're both 17.' She bit her lip, hoping he wouldn't change his mind.

He opened his arms in a welcoming gesture 'Alright, I'll let you in. But, don't try and buy any drinks or anything, okay? Just enjoy the atmosphere. And if anyone asks why you're in there, tell them to talk to Luke.' He paused. 'That's me, if that wasn't clear.'

'Thank you _so_ much Luke.' She gently brushed his arm as she said that, then immediately pulled Beca towards the door. As soon as the door closed behind them, Chloe burst into giggles. 'I can't believe that worked!'

'Neither can I,' Beca said, genuinely amazed. 'You're such an idiot.'

'But this idiot got you in here.' Chloe smiled, raising one eyebrow. That was thing about Chloe Beale, Beca had witnessed her effect on people over the years. She had this otherworldly charm about her that turned anyone into mush. It didn't matter how tough and strong you thought you were, she would ask something of you and all your walls would come crashing down in an instant. You'd do anything just to be the reason she was smiling.

Chloe let go of Beca's hand (which annoyed her, though she wasn't sure why) and lead the way into the bar. It wasn't quite what Beca had expected. There was a bar in front of them as soon as they entered, though they avoided eye-contact with the bartender. To their left was a line of booths along one wall, and some scattered tables and chairs at the end of this, which Chloe headed towards, and Beca followed. Once they got past the bar, a small stage was revealed, complete with microphones, drums, amps and all types of musical equipment, but it was currently lacking any musicians.

Chloe lead them to an empty table in the corner. As they sat down, the bartender approached them, and Beca's nerves returned.

'Luke let you in, right?' They nodded in unison.

'Right. No alcohol-' 'We know.' They both said. 'So can I get you anything else to drink?'

They paused for a moment, unsure if he was serious. 'Two cokes would be nice.' Chloe said, hesitantly.

He nodded and turned back to the bar. As he walked away, the two of them stared at each other for a moment in disbelief.

They sat their for a while just talking like they would have anywhere else, occasionally bringing up yet again how lucky they'd been to actually get in. The other topic, as usual, was college.

'I could be... an accountant?' Chloe offered.

'Nope,' Beca shook her head. 'That's way too boring for you.' Chloe nodded, crinkling her nose as though she only just realised what she'd suggested. 'True. What about... a hairdresser?'

Beca raised her eyebrows. 'You don't remember last time you had that dream?'

She was referring to, of course, the horrible memory of 8th grade, when Chloe had convinced Beca to let her cut her hair. Beca wasn't sure what Chloe had exactly aimed to achieve, but the end result was so bad that to salvage it, the actual hairdresser had to cut off about 2 inches of Beca's hair, giving her a look which she hated. Beca had worn beanies for almost 2 months after that had happened.

'Right. Sorry about that, again.'

Beca was about to reply when the distinctive sound of a microphone being turned on interrupted her. They turned to the stage which was now occupied by a drummer, a guitarist and a bass-guitarist. They looked only a few years older than Beca and Chloe. The guy on the bass spoke first.

'Hi, I'm Tom, this is Anj,' he gestured to the girl on the guitar, 'And that's Dean.' He pointed to the drummer. 'We're gonna make some noise for the next hour... hope you don't mind.'

They started playing, presumably their own song because Beca didn't recognise it. She didn't mind them, they had an interesting indie/rock kind of sound. Chloe, however, seemed to love them. Beca was just happy that it had brought them closer together, quite literally. They hadn't been able to hear each other over the music so they'd moved their chairs next to each other, facing the front. Now Chloe's arm was resting on hers, and she would occaisonally whisper in Beca's ear, telling her how much she loved the band. All Beca could think about though, was how weird it was that Chloe's whispers sent shivers down her spine.

Some people had gotten up and were standing in the space right in front of the band, not quite dancing, but moving to the music still, some with drinks in hand. Beca watched Chloe eye these people and knew she wanted to go up there too, but she held back for some reason, biting her lip and folding her arms. This didn't last long however.

The girl on the guitar spoke. 'This is our version of Style by Taylor Swift.'

Chloe didn't even have to speak. Her facial expression itself said 'Oh shit!' well enough without the aid of words. Beca knew she had absolutely no chance of fighting Chloe. She had no choice, they were going on that 'dance' floor.

Chloe took her hand again, and Beca began to feel better about joining the crowd instantly. They weaved through the people as far forward as they could, but there was still quite a few people in front of them, slightly blocking their view. They tried facing the band, but as neither of them were particularly tall for their age (or any age above 12 really), they faced each other instead. It only took a manner of seconds for Beca's refusal to dance to resolve. Soon they were jumping up and down and yelling the words to each other. More people began to stand in the small area with them, pushing them closer and closer together.

The band started playing another song, slightly slower than Style. She thought she heard them say it was another cover, but she didn't hear what song it was or who it was by. She didn't hear because she was too busy focusing on Chloe. She was finding it harder to breathe, though she was sure that was from all the jumping. Because, she thought, why would her best friend make her loose her breath? Why would Chloe draping her arms around her neck and pulling them even closer together make her heart beat so fast?

The guitarist sung a line that pierced through Beca's thoughts.

 _Driving in your car,_

 _oh please don't drop me home,_

 _because I haven't got one any more._

Beca knew all too well what those lyrics meant. She never wanted this moment to end, as Chloe swayed to the music in front of her. She felt like nothing else existed in the world except the two of them and the band playing the song that was slowly making Chloe dance impossibly closer to her.

Beca's hands found their way to Chloe's hips. She couldn't remember deciding to put them there, and yet they were there, swaying with the redhead. Beca wondered if she shouldn't have, whether it was crossing some sort of line, but Chloe didn't seem to mind. Then again, nothing about how close they were dancing seemed friendly to Beca, so she wasn't sure of anything, except that she was enjoying every single second of it. She felt the need to remember this moment, as though she might blink and it would all be gone. She wanted to remember the way Chloe's eyes had lit up, they way her hand had felt, entwined with her own, and the way that she was so close now, that Beca could feel her breath on her neck.

The bassist began to sing one line, over and over as the music faded out.

 _There is a light that never goes out,_

 _there is a light that never goes out..._

All the way home, Beca heard that line in her head. During the walk back to Chloe's car, as Chloe spoke rapidly about how fun that was, as they drove back to Chloe's, it was constantly repeating, as though the song never really ended.

It wasn't until they were lying in her bed, Chloe's arm around her as usual, that she thought about what the words meant. She thought about her dad, and her mother, and how just the thought of them was miserable. She thought about how boring she found school, and how she didn't have a clue what she wanted to do after it. Everything else in her life was dark and grey, except for Chloe Beale. That's what the 'light' was in the song; happiness. Chloe was the one thing that never failed to make Beca happy, not matter what she did. She didn't have to do anything, really. Just Chloe being there was enough to make Beca smile.

Beca rolled over, facing Chloe. She decided she liked that song, whatever it was. She decided she really liked that band too, who ever they were.

And, just as she started to fall asleep, it she suddenly realised what she was feeling. The warm feeling, the excitement, the gratitude. She couldn't believe she hadn't understood what it all meant sooner.

She had kind of, maybe, accidentally fallen in love with her best friend.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry it took so long guys! I've been busy :S I hope some of you stuck it out anyways. Tried to make the chapter a bit longer too. I loved hearing from you all on the last one, thank you very much, you're all awesome. Also, if you want to, hit me up on tumblr: cinnamonsweat

* * *

'I know, you love me.' Chloe winked, pulling a pack of oreos out of her bag. They were sitting on the small grassy hill by the football field, their go to lunch spot, because it was as far away from the school that they could get without being out of bounds. They'd learnt this the hard way, earning many warnings and even a detention or two from the teachers over the years. Beca grabbed an oreo, smiled and thanked Chloe, but she was practically screaming inside.

She was reminded yet again of what she had thought last night. She hadn't realised at the time that one single thought could bother her so much. She hadn't planned on it occupying 90% of her thoughts. She couldn't avoid thinking about it for longer than 5 minutes. Now she noticed every little thing that Chloe did, like just now, and it drove her insane. Every hug, every smile, every time they held hands, Beca's heart would start beating just that little bit faster. Chloe didn't even have to necessarily be there for Beca to be reminded of her. Because they were basically living together, Beca had to start borrowing Chloe's clothes, as she didn't exactly have time to pack her own.

She would be in the middle of class, taking down notes, when she would realise that the shirt she was wearing smelt like Chloe, then her mind would wander, and she got so distracted that it would suddenly be the end of class, and Beca would realise she hadn't been paying attention the entire time.

Despite all of this, she was still hesitant to admit that she liked her best friend. It's kind of a big deal to realise you might have feelings for someone that close in your life, Beca thought, and she did not want to dive straight into something if she was unsure of it. For all she knew, it could have just been the moment, the atmosphere, maybe she'd have thought the same thing about any of her other friends if they'd been dancing that close.

'Last night was so fun!' Chloe said, twisting an oreo till it split. 'I really wanna see that band again.'

Beca nodded in agreement, she had enjoyed their music, although admittedly it wasn't what she'd been paying the most attention to at the time.

'What if I was a journalist?' Chloe offered as she licked the cream off the oreo, continuing their job-guessing game.

'Hmm…' Beca tilted her head, trying to picture Chloe writing articles in some fancy editors office.

'Nah,' Chloe shook her head 'Doesn't seem fun enough for me.'

'I dunno,' Beca said 'I feel like you'd be good at getting dirt on celebrities. You always know who's banging who around here, though you never tell me how you know.'

Chloe winked 'A magician doesn't share her secrets.' She finished her oreo. 'Anyways, I've got math now, see you later.' She stood up, leaving the rest of the cookies for Beca.

Beca sighed, leaning back against her bag and closing her eyes. She just wanted her mind to be quiet for a moment, it felt like it had been 100 miles per hour all day, it was too much to take in. But as soon as she'd closed her eyes, her phone buzzed. It was a text from Jesse.

Jesse: You have this period off, right?

Beca: Yeah

Jesse: Come to the library, I'm bored

She found him at one of the tables in the far corner of the library, headphones in and scribbling in his notebook. She snuck up behind him and gave his shoulders a shove. He ripped his headphones out and turned around.

'JESUS FU- Oh,' he rolled his eyes 'It's you.'

'Yes, tis I,' Beca said, sitting down opposite him, in a mock-graceful way 'Jesus.'

He shook his head, putting one headphone back in. 'I knew I shouldn't have invited you, I already regret it.'

Beca smirked; it was basically her daily mission to annoy Jesse, and she had a very high success rate. Of course he always returned the favour. Their friendship was basically built on sarcasm and pushing each others limits.

'And yet, I'm here. You clearly missed me.' She replied, leaning back so she could put her feet on the table.

'And yet, you're here.' He repeated 'You're clearly obsessed with me.' He turned back to the scribbles in his book.

'You wish.' She said, knowing it wasn't her most creative comeback ever. She felt she had a reasonable excuse however, since her mind had been working hard all day. In fact she didn't notice how Jesse fell silent after her reply, because her mind was already back on Chloe. It was as though her mind assumed that if it kept asking the same question again and again, maybe an answer would suddenly appear. But of course, there was no answer, and Beca was left with 'Do I like Chloe?' on repeat in her head, like a song she couldn't get out. Except this song wasn't annoying her, if anything she-

' _Beca_!'

She awoke from her daydream, looking to Jesse who nodded in the direction of whatever was causing the terrified look on his face. She whipped her head around to find the grumpy old librarian dude (who would definitely win in an 'Up' look-alike contest) frowning down at her, arms crossed. She realised he was unimpressed (to say the least) by her feet on the table.

She scrambled to sit up right, whipping her feet of the desk at such speed that she almost fell out of her chair. She looked up to the librarian sheepishly.

'Sorry.' She whispered.

He frowned at her over his glasses, in the most typical librarian way, then grunted and slowly hobbled away. Beca let out a huge sigh.

'Jesus Beca, what's up with you today?'

She just shrugged. She thought she was good at hiding what was going on in her head, but apparently not so much today.

'Is it something to do with your dad? Have you heard from him?'

She shook her head, although she was still quite annoyed that he hadn't called her or left a message or, well anything, there was basically no sign that he still existed. While that did bother her, it wasn't what had just caused her to completely zone out. She felt like the thing with her father was a much bigger deal, she was constantly complaining to Chloe about it, so she wondered why something as minor as dancing with her best friend seemed to have a bigger effect on her. Maybe it was because this was something she couldn't talk to Chloe about. Now that she thought about it, she realised she'd never been in that position before. She told Chloe _everything._ She realised that maybe bottling it up was what was making this so hard for her.

'Hey, Jesse, you've had girlfriends before... right?'

He looked up at her, frowning. 'That's... is that what's bothering you?' He said, perplexed.

'No, I just... ugh' She groaned. She didn't know how to tell him without _actually_ telling him. 'You've been in relationships before, yes?'

'I've dabbled... yeah.'

'And these girls... you liked them right?'

'That's kind of how relationships work, Becs.'

'Right, sure,' She ignored his smirk, needing him to get that this was serious. 'But like, how did you _know_ you liked them?'

He shrugged. 'Dunno, I just felt it, you know?'

' _No_.'

'So who's the lucky guy?'

'Nobody. I think.' The word 'guy' had made her chest feel strangely heavy, because she hadn't even thought about _that._ She'd only been thinking that she couldn't possibly like her best friend, let alone a girl. Gender hadn't really been considered until this point. Of course she didn't like Chloe; she was straight. She was definitely straight, it seemed almost weird to her now that she believed she'd liked her best friend. She blamed the moment again, because even though she'd had no alcohol, she was certain she'd been intoxicated by the music, and by the atmosphere. That's all it was, nothing more. Jesse spoke again, in a much more serious tone.

'Well, it feels like, you're kind of excited when they're around, you know? Or you don't, whatever. But like, they don't have to do or say anything, you just feel better when they're near you. And... sometimes they'll say something, or do something, and you don't think much of it, but other times, it could be something really simple, just laughing or something, and you just feel... I dunno, you can't describe it.' He pauses for a moment, as though he was just realizing what he'd just said. 'Maybe that's how you know you like someone; when they make you feel something you can't even describe.'

He looked at Beca, perhaps thinking he'd shared too much of what he usually hid behind his jokes. He clears his throat, composing himself.

'Speaking of liking people,' he says, and Beca barely has time to comprehend what he just said before he changes the topic. 'Guess who told me they have a thing for Chloe?'

Okay, so maybe the topic hadn't changed too much. Beca was sure her stomach had done a backflip at the mention of Chloe's name. Because she was protective of Chloe, totally not because of anything else.

'Who!?' She asked, perhaps a little too aggressive.

'You know Donald, from science? He asked me to try and hook them up. I told him he'd have to get through you first.'

'As you should have.'

'What, you already don't trust him?'

Beca felt offended that he had to ask. 'Of course I don't!'

'You barely know him.' Jesse pointed out.

'I know enough. Besides, it's up to Chloe anyway. And I know she won't like him.'

'What makes you so sure?'

'I just know.' She said firmly, hoping he would get the hint that the conversation was over.

* * *

'Have you heard of Barden University?' Chloe asked, stealing Beca's yellow oil pastel. They were in their last class of the day, Art, which was Beca's favourite class with Chloe. Mainly because the teacher was pretty lazy and they never had to do much other than draw, which left plenty of room for conversation.

'Nope.' Beca said, smacking Chloe's hand playfully as she stole the pastel.

'Well, it looks kinda cool. I was looking them up on my line off. They have a lot of different art courses, there a music production one for you, there's like a bunch of different singing _and_ dancing related things for me. They even have an acapella group!'

'What the _hell_ is an acapella group?' Beca asked, looking up from her drawing.

'It's where they all sing without instruments. It's totes cool. Anyways, that wasn't my point. I think we should go there. It's only like, two hours away as well. I dunno, Becs, it just looks perfect for us. Like, I don't think singing and dancing is what I want to do as a career necessarily, but it'd be a fun thing to do while I figure out what I _actually_ want to do. Don't you think?'

'It does sound very... you.' Beca said, unable to think of a better word. 'Where ever you go, I go. You know that Chlo.' And she really meant that too, the college she would pick in the end wouldn't matter as long as Chloe was there with her. She would never admit it because it would completely betray her cool exterior, but she was touched that Chloe had looked at courses for Beca too. Of course she was lloking for courses for her best friend as well as herself, even though Beca herself didn't know what she wanted to do. Her mixes that she would make on her laptop was just a thing she did for fun, she'd never really considered turning it into anything other than that, but as soon as Chloe mentioned it, it seemed to make sense. Like an answer to a question she didn't know to ask until just now.

Chloe smiled, clearly relieved and excited by Beca's response. This smile made Beca feel... warm. Tingly? No. That sounded gross. Excited, maybe. She just liked that she was the reason behind that smile. Something came to mind; what Jesse had been saying before, about little things making you feel something indescribable, and again she was worried like she was this morning. She felt like she needed to relive last night again, so she could analyse everything she was feeling, find all the reasons behind it, and finally prove to herself that she was definitely not in love with Chloe. Because being in love with Chloe was _not_ something Beca wanted to do. She didn't want their friendship to change, she was happy with the way they were. And they wouldn't change. Because she was not in love with Chloe Beale. Maybe.

'Hey, Chloe. We should go to the bar again tonight. See if the band is there again?'

Maybe if they went there again Beca could just... figure herself out somehow. She didn't know why exactly, but she felt like the band and the bar would offer some answers.

Chloe's eyes lit up. 'Oh my god that's a great idea!' She looked like she was about to hug Beca, you'd think she'd just invented wi-fi or something, the way Chloe was reacting.

'Hey, you know Donald, from science? I was telling him about the band before, would you mind if he came?'


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Wowee it has been a looong time, i'm very sorry. I've been super busy, but i should be able to update more regularly from now on. in reward for your patience; the longest chapter yet. i finished this at like 1am so if there's some mistakes; thats why. Thank you for sticking around! hope this lives up to your standards. If you have any questions or general wonderments, leave a review, or hit me up on tumblr: .com :) let e know what you think!

* * *

Boys had never really been a problem between Beca and Chloe. Beca had never really had a proper boyfriend either. There had been some pursuers, sure, but none of them had really tickled her fancy. Anyone that had shown interest in her she had either found boring or weird and she couldn't stand to date them long enough to even have a first kiss. It wasn't that she was trying to save her first kiss for the right moment or whatever, but she just didn't see the point if she wasn't even interested in them, and her life wasn't exactly revolving around her having her first kiss.

Chloe had delved a little bit more into boyfriend world than Beca had, but not much more. Despite several jocks and others alike sending her messages on Facebook over the past year or two, she'd only had two boyfriends in her time at high school. Beca remembered almost a year ago, laying on the trampoline in Chloe's backyard the afternoon after she'd broken up with her last boyfriend, Tom.

'Shouldn't you be like, sad or something?' Beca had asked.

Chloe let out a small laugh. 'I mean, I do feel bad about it, if that's what you mean. I didn't want to tell him, I almost didn't do it at all, I hate hurting people's feelings.'

'So what made you do it?' Beca looked down from the clouds to Chloe's face that was right next to hers, to see if she was upset. She wasn't, though she was still looking up at the sky, as though her answer was floating up there with the clouds.

'Because, I guess I just wasn't feeling anything. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's a great kisser-'

'Ew.' Beca scrunched her nose.

'-but I was pretty bored. I just don't have fun with him, you know? I'd hang out with you over him in an instant, and I think he knew that too, I think it bothered him.'

'Hey, I never asked you to ditch him for me.' Beca pointed out.

Chloe sat up and turned to face Beca. 'I knowww,' she whined 'But it felt like such a chore going on dates with him.' She started to slowly bounce, making the trampoline move slightly.

'Chlo-'

'And why would I go out to some boring café when I could be doing this.' She put more energy into her bounce, shaking the trampoline a bit more.

'No, Chloe, stop! Chloe I swear to god don't-' Beca protested, but Chloe ignored her, and used her momentum to jump up to her feet.

It only took Chloe one big jump to send Beca flying into the air, limbs flailing, which sent Chloe into hysterics as she jumped. Beca's complete and utter awkwardness never failed to entertain Chloe. She was too busy laughing to notice that Beca was bouncing up again, less awkwardly this time, and when she finally did notice, it was too late, because Beca had already gotten a hold of both her hands, and was pulling Chloe down with her. They'd landed in a half tackle, half just a general tangle of limbs awkwardly bouncing, which of course sent both girls into a fit of uncontrollable giggles.

'I hate you.' Beca said with a shove, once she could finally breathe.

'Nah you love me.' Chloe said, smothering her in an awkward hug.

'Jesse!' Beca said as soon as he answered his phone.

'What?' He said, sounding almost offended.

'What are you doing tonight?' She asked urgently, looking around to check that Chloe wasn't back from her locker yet.

'Um, I was going to watch a movie with my parents. Tarentino's latest one, it's sup-'

'Yeah, okay, I don't care. You're coming out to a bar tonight.'

'What- why?'

'Because Chloe, Donald and I are going and-'

'Wait, I thought you said she wasn't interested in him?' Jesse interrupted.

'Yeah, well that was before she invited him out to the bar!' She said, frustrated that he didn't seem to understand the urgency of the situation.

'Someone sounds a bit jealous.' He commented.

'What? No, why would I be jealous? I just don't want to be the third wheel, which is why you're coming.'

'Hang on, I didn't say that I would go-' He began, but Beca interrupted.

'Jesse, do you really think you have a choice in this? You're coming. Okay Chloe's back, I gotta go.'

She hung up without another word, despite Jesse's protests.

Beca and Chloe walked home together, as they did every day, only today's conversation only consisted of two things; the bar and the band. Chloe could not stop talking about how excited she was about the night ahead of them.

The more she talked about it the more excited and terrified it made Beca. She realised that there were really only two ways tonight would go; either her and Chloe would have as great if not an even better time than they'd had the night before, allowing Beca to figure out her feelings and hopefully stop feeling so confused, or Chloe could spend the whole night with Donald and not pay attention to Beca at all. Beca really hoped it would be the former, because she wasn't sure what she would do if it all played out the other way. She wasn't too keen on finding out, either.

It was a few hours later, they were just about ready to go pick everyone up, and Beca was looking for some shoes of Chloe's that might fit her when her phone rang. She looked at the screen lighting up to see who's name it was, wondering who would even call her apart from Chloe. When she saw the name, she froze.

It was her dad.

Breathing suddenly became hard for her to do, and her hands immediately began to shake. She became very aware of how fast her heart was beating in her chest as she thought about whether she should answer or not. She really didn't know what she expected to happen if she were to answer, but she knew she'd regret it if she didn't, so after about the sixth or seventh ring, she finally picked her phone up.

'Hello?' She said hesitantly. It surprised her how small her voice sounded.

'Beca,' She heard, followed by a sigh of relief. It was comforting to hear his voice. 'I was worried. I didn't know if you would answer.'

'Neither did I.' She answered truthfully.

'Well I'm glad you did.'

'Me too.' She said, then silence fell. She wasn't sure of what else to say. She had no idea how to even begin asking all the questions that she wanted to. To her relief, he spoke again.

'Look, Becs… I'm so sorry. This is- This is not how I wanted it all to go down. We were going to sit down and tell you, you know, ease you into the divorce-'

'So that's what this is then? A divorce?'

'Uh… yeah.'

'Yikes.'

'Believe me this is not how I planned on everything happening. I feel so bad for just leaving like that.'

'Yeah, um, that kind of sucked,' Beca said, and suddenly she was finding it hard to swallow, as there was some massive lump in her throat that was being really annoying. 'Like a lot.' Those definitely were not tears in her eyes, nope, not crying.

'I know, I know. And I can explain all of that, not that that's the kind of thing you have an excuse for. But I want to, if you'll let me that is, make it up to you.'

Chloe walked into the room then, instantly concerned at the sight of Beca's watery eyes.

'Look, Dad, I've kind of got to go. Can I call you tomorrow or something, when I'm a bit more…' her hand moved as she talked, as though she were physically searching for the right word to say. '…ready?'

'Yeah, of course Becs, whenever you're ready. I'll be here.'

'Okay, bye.' She said, paused for a moment, unsure if she wanted to say anything else, then hung up.

She took a few deep breaths, taking everything in. Her dad was okay, he wanted to talk to her, and he seemed, well, normal. Something had changed between them, sure, but it didn't feel bad, just new and slightly scary. Beca was never good with unchartered waters, but her father, of all people, would understand that, and knows not to push her boundaries.

She looked up at Chloe, who was looking at Beca as though she was a bomb that might explode at any minute.

'I'm fine.' Beca assured her, standing up and running her hands through her hair.

'What did he say?'

'That he's sorry, um, he's gonna tell me what happened later. They're getting a divorce.' She frowned at Chloe as the full meaning of that word sunk in. 'I mean, I guess that was kind of obvious, but no ones actually said the word yet, you know? Seems so official…'

'Yikes.' Chloe said, lingering in the doorway, unsure of what to do.

'Right? That's what I said.'

'You sure you're okay?' Chloe asked again, taking a step into the room.

'Yeah, yeah, I just don't really want to think about it right now.'

'Seems fair.' Chloe nodded. 'Hey, here's an idea.' She took another step closer.

'What do you say we go out tonight,' she took Beca's hand and took a step back. 'Go to some bar and-' she lifted their linked hands up, spinning Beca '-just dance the night away?'

She stepped back again, then pulled Beca back into her, placing her hand on the small of her back. This earned a giggle from Beca.

'What a great plan,' Beca said, joining in on her game as Chloe lead her around the room 'I don't know _where_ you come up with these ideas. Wait Chloe what are you-'

Chloe attempted to dip Beca, emphasis on the attempted, as they both stumbled and fell to the ground, landing in a heap.

'How did I know you wouldn't be able to do that?' Beca groaned as she sat up.

'It was worth a try.' Chloe shrugged, still smiling. 'Okay, tell Jesse we're on the way. Lets go!'

They parked in the carpark of the frozen yoghurt store again, the lights of the bar could be seen glimmering just a street away, promising a good night. For some reason, anticipation built inside Beca as they made their way down the street, making her skin crawl slightly. Though maybe that was the cool breeze greeting them, or maybe it was the memories of the night before, of Chloe, Beca considered, but she pushed that thought to the back of her mind.

'So what's the band like again?' Donald asked, who was pointedly less excited than Chloe, or even Beca.

'Well, they're kind of like, indie-rock, I guess?' Chloe said, looking to Beca for confirmation. 'You kind of just have to be there to get it, though.' Beca nodded in agreement.

'And what's their name?' Jesse asked, also sounding quite bored.

'Oh, I don't actually know.' Beca said, only just realising that she didn't know. 'Do you?'

'No.' Chloe said, shaking her head. 'I don't think they said.'

'Cool.' Donald said with an air of sarcasm that Beca suspected went undetected by Chloe, who was too excited to notice.

They approached the bar, only realising once they were a few meters away that the man out the front was not, in fact, Luke. This guy seemed a lot grumpier. And older.

'Right, you all expect me to believe you're 21?' He said, frowning and crossing his arms.

'Um, is Luke here?' Chloe asked hopefully. The man rolled his eyes.

'That kid- I swear to god…' He said to no one in particular. The four of them simply stood there, unsure of what to do.

'Look, either show me some legitimate ID or get out of here.'

So Beca had been wrong about the only two ways the night could go. She felt frustration piling up inside her, she felt like a volcano on the brink of eruption. Not only had she expected to figure out what she felt towards Chloe, but she'd been relying on the night to ease her mind. There was so many things she was confused about, her mum, her dad, what to do after school, Chloe, Chloe and Chloe. It was driving her crazy, all of those questions hanging in her head, unanswered.

'Who's up for some fro-yo?' Chloe asked with a sigh as they made their way back to the car.

'Yeah, okay.' Jesse said with a shrug, and Beca and Donald nodded in agreement.

They sat down in a booth, Chloe and Beca on one side, Donald and Jesse on the other. The small café-type building was empty except for them, the two workers who they could hear, presumably in a kitchen of sorts. It was silent for a moment between the four of them, the awkwardness of uncertainty getting to them all.

'Well, this sucks.' Beca stated, slouching.

'How are we supposed to see them again now? We don't even know their name!' Chloe groaned, leaning her head on Beca's shoulder. Donald's eyes darted between Beca and Chloe for a moment before he spoke.

'So is this all we are gonna do tonight?' He said, a tinge of annoyance laced in his voice.

'Well, I guess, yeah.' Chloe replied, obviously not getting why he was frustrated.

'Awesome.' He sighed with a sarcasm that even Chloe could pick up on.

'Well, I'm sorry it didn't exactly go to plan! It's not my fault.' She defended, sitting up straight.

'I didn't realise the plan involved two other people!' Beca and Jesse looked to each other in shared disbelief 'I thought this was a date, not some lame ass group hang at _Let It Fro_ - _Yo_ on a Tuesday night!'

He stared at Chloe, waiting for a reply, but she a state of confusion was fixed upon her face, and she failed to say anything.

'Whatever, I'm leaving.' He said, then glared at Jesse. 'Move!' Donald half yelled, because apparently Jesse forgot that he was the reason Donald was trapped in the booth. HE quickly scrambled up and out of the way, allowing Donald to storm out dramatically.

'He seems nice.' Jesse smiled, sitting back down.

'Guess he wasn't in it for the music.' Beca said to Chloe, fully knowing that the redheads blind optimism would've let Chloe believe that Donald was really interested in the band and nothing more.

'What was all that about?' a familiar voice asked, making the three of them jump.

'Stacie!' Chloe practically squealed 'Since when do you work here?'

Stacie, the girl Beca knew as the hot girl who always made sarcastic comments in english, stood before them in a pale blue uniform, donned in a stripy apron and cap. On anyone else it would look ridiculous, but Beca couldn't deny she looked great in it.

'Oh, a while now I guess. It totally sucks, but a girls gotta get paid, you know?' She said, shrugging. An older lady appeared behind the counter, yelling to Stacie as she swept.

'Stacie, where's your smile? You should be showing these customers a good time!'

'Oh, I can do that.' Stacie said, quite deliberately looking Beca up and down, which immediately made her blush.

'Are you flirting with Beca?' Chloe asked.

'Don't worry, you can join in too, Beale. And you, if you like.' She winked at Jesse, who seemed to choke on a cough.

'Anyways, what brings you here?' She asked them.

'We were going to go see a band at the bar down there, but they wouldn't let us in.' Chloe answered, who seemed to be the only one completely un-phased by Stacie's flirting.

'Ooh! I love that place, Luke always lets me in.' Stacie sat down eagerly next to Jesse, who's face visibly reddened. 'Who were you going to see?'

'We're not really sure, we saw them last night-'

'Was it two guys and a girl?' Stacie interrupted.

'Yeah!' Chloe nodded eagerly.

'That's The Wilde! I love them. You know they have a show on, like a proper concert, not just a bar, on Friday I think. It's like, 3 hours away from here though.'

Chloe looked to Beca, biting her lip, then back to Stacie. 'That seems do-able.'

'That's what she said.' Stacie interjected with another wink, directed at Beca this time, who immediately grew flustered again.

'Oh my god, Stacie, do you ever turn off?' Chloe asked.

'Not when you're around, Red.' She said, standing up. 'Alright, I better serve you before I get fired. But it's a date, Friday night, are we all in?'

All three of them nodded very keenly.

Beca was once again reminded that Chloe's car was entirely musicless as they drove home after dropping Jesse off. It almost seemed like a crime to Beca; the girl who loved music more than anything else, forced to drive around in silence. Although Beca wouldn't be surprised if Chloe just sang to herself when she was alone in the car. Beca had caught her doing it before, humming tunes to songs that didn't exist, not yet at least. Now that Chloe had mentioned doing music at Barden, Beca couldn't picture a better suited course for Chloe.

'So I told my parents about Barden,' Chloe randomly spoke up, and Beca briefly wondered if her best friend could read minds. 'But they didn't like it. They want me to try getting into psychology or law or something at NYU.'

'Oh.' Was all Beca said. New York was a long way away.

'Yeah.' Chloe sighed, and Beca was worried that she'd reacted poorly.

'New York would be pretty awesome.' Beca offered, trying to remain optimistic. She wasn't as good as Chloe at that.

'Only if you were there too.' Chloe said, as though it were obvious. Beca looked to her, slightly surprised.

'What?' Chloe asked 'You think I'm just gonna leave you here? As if! Look, Becs, I don't care where it is, but no matter what, we are going to the same college together, I promise.'

Beca smiled, a proper, genuine smile, the kind that you couldn't control even if you tried. She felt a warmth grow in her chest, and her fingers tingled, when she realised she was wrong about all the confusion in her life. Sure, there were a lot of questions to be answered, and her mind was full to the brim with uncertainty. But there's one thing in her life that she can always be sure of, without hesitation, and that thing was Chloe Beale.


End file.
